Shows / The Charlotte Optimist
Episodes
The Charlotte OptimistThe Many Jim Nobles
He has 16 restaurants, a bakery he waited 40 years for, and a letter some people can’t forgive him for. Now one of Charlotte’s most successful chefs wants to…
The Charlotte OptimistLessons From Chicago
Chicago’s great park opened four years late and everyone forgot about the delay. Charlotte’s council is arguing over six weeks for its airport. … A morning…
The Charlotte OptimistCharlotte's Optimism Gap
A new UNC Charlotte survey finds a region that’s satisfied today and doubtful about tomorrow. What’s behind the gap, and the case for practicing optimism…
The Charlotte OptimistIt's Been 10 Years Since Keith Scott
Ten years after Keith Scott, an essay on the night at the Omni and how Charlotte’s changed in the decade since.
The Charlotte OptimistWhat West Boulevard is worth
A two-hour walk with Rickey Hall through the neighborhood he’s spent his life defending. And why he now wants his neighbors to stop fighting the I-77 toll…
The Charlotte OptimistCharlottes Other Lost Films
It’s not just Hunting Wives. Two prominent filmmakers were planning to shoot in Charlotte — one of them the granddaughter of the man who made It’s a Wonderful…
The Charlotte OptimistCommunications is everything in Charlotte
Charlotte has about seven PR pros for every journalist. The gap between who can design their message and who can survive a bad one shapes everything you know…
The Charlotte OptimistIt's Been Real: Why Queen City Nerve closed
Queen City Nerve closed in mid-August 2026, eight years after rising from Creative Loafing’s ashes to become Charlotte’s new alt-weekly. Here’s what actually…
The Charlotte OptimistRock Hill's rebound
Four years removed from a failed project with the Panthers, Rock Hill is now moving on. The city just landed 1,500 six-figure jobs from Octapharma and a large…
The Charlotte OptimistLet's Build a Bridge
Dae-Lee Arrington is mounting a campaign to reconnect the people who run Charlotte — before the city’s biggest decisions arrive this fall. He started by asking…
The Charlotte OptimistRaise Em Up
While Charlotte debates a curfew, Monique Perry-Graves and Road to Hire are staging a different kind of teen takeover.